ARMENIAN DANCING PAIR TAKES 21st PLACE AFTER COMPULSORY PROGRAM AMONG 29 PAIRS AT FIGURE SKATING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Noyan Tapan
Mar 21 2007
TOKYO, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Figure skating world championship
started on March 20 in Tokyo. In competition among dancing pairs
Anastasia Grebyonkina – Vazgen Azroyan pair repesenting Armenia after
compulsory program takes 21st place among 29 pairs.
ANUSHAVAN DANIELIAN: COMING YEARS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEMT OF NKR
Noyan Tapan
Mar 20 2007
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The socioeconomic achievements
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in recent years are conditioned by
domestic political stability and radical structural reforms. Responding
to questions of readers of the "Azat Artsakh" republican newspaper’s
website, the NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian said that thanks
to these reforms, it has become possible not only to prevent a decline
in justice but also to register high economic growth.
According to a press release of the NKR MFA, the prime minister also
noted that the social and economic policy of the government and its
successes in recent years inspire a hope that the coming years will
be favorable for development of the country’s econopmy and solution
of social problems.
PARUYR HAYRIKIAN NOT DECIDED YET TO HEAD ELECTORAL COORDINATORY BODY
OF OPPOSITION PARTIES
YEREVAN, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. "If the opposition parties’ approach
to form an electoral coordinatory body is serious, I am ready with my
experience to contribute to this." Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the
"National Self-Determination" Union who was proposed to head this
body, told this to NT correspondent. According to him, Chairman of the
"New Times" Party Aram Karapetian and Chairman of the "National Unity"
Party Artashes Geghamian are interested in creation of this body. In
response to question if all opposition members are united around this
project, P. Hayrikian said: "Not all opposition members in Armenia are
indeed opposition members." In his words, the people expect that at
least all opposition parties that have an ideology will come to an
agreement and form a united front to participate in the elections,
which may essentially change the social situation in Armenia.
ARMENIAN SPEAKER SCEPTICAL ABOUT OPINION POLLS
Arminfo
15 Mar 07
Yerevan, 15 March: Armenian Speaker Tigran Torosyan is sceptical about
various opinion polls on the forthcoming parliamentary election in
the country [on 12 May]. According to such polls, the Republican Party
of Armenia [RPA] has considerably less popularity than the Prosperous
Armenia Party [led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan].
Torosyan told a news conference today [15 March] that results of such
polls are quite approximate almost two months before the election as
voters have not yet made up their minds in terms of their preferences
and that it is a question whether they are sincere or not when giving
their answers. "I am sure that the picture will significantly change
when we get closer to the election, but even then, such polls will
be relative," he said.
RUSSIA-ARMENIA TRADE KEEPS GROWING – AMBASSADOR
Itar-Tass News Agency, Russia
March 14 2007
Russian Ambassador to Armenia Nikolai Pavlov said on Wednesday that
Russian-Armenian trade kept growing despite certain difficulties in
economic ties.
"Although Russian-Armenian economic cooperation is facing certain
difficulties connected with transport communication, the amount of
bilateral trade keeps growing," the ambassador said.
Last year trade between the two countries amounted to 426 million
dollars, without taking into consideration Russian gas supplies,
against 350 million dollars in 2005, Pavlov stressed.
Russian investments in the Armenian economy keep growing, the diplomat
added. He cited as an example the activity in Armenia of the Russian
Gazprom gas giant, the Unified Energy Systems of Russia national
power utility, the Armenal plant and Vneshtorgbank.
Recently one more major Russian company, Vympelkom, entered the market
of Armenian telecommunication services.
The ambassador admitted, however, that problems also persist in
relations between the two former Soviet republics. They concern,
in particular, the implementation of an agreement on handing over to
Russia property of five Armenian enterprises to settle the inter-state
debt.
The activity of the inter-governmental commission for economic
cooperation is aimed to solve such problems. The latest meeting of
its co-chairmen was held in Moscow on March 5.
The ambassador said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit
Armenia on April 3 to 4. The aim of his visit is "to confirm Russia’s
commitment to a course of strategic partnership with Armenia," the
top Russian diplomat stressed.
TURKEY HASN’T DECIDE ON "PUNISHMENT" FOR U.S. FOR PASSING GENOCIDE RESOLUTION YET
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2007 17:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey hasn’t decide on "punishment" for the U.S. for
passing the Armenian Genocide resolution yet, said Mehmet Dulger, a
member of the Turkish National Assembly and Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee, reports Reuters. As possible moves he marked out
limitation of Incirlik air base use by the United States.
In his opinion, the adoption of the resolution will arouse
anti-American spirit in Turkey and will heighten the rating of radical
nationalists. "The adoption of the resolution will be hostile step
and will deliver a greater blow to relations with Washington than
refusal to use our territory for intrusion of U.S. troops into Iran,"
Dulger said, reports RFE/RL.
HISTORIAN SEEKS IMMIGRANTS TO RECOUNT ELLIS ISLAND EXPERIENCES
By Sally Kalson
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
March 13 2007
If you’re an immigrant who passed through Ellis Island, even as a baby;
if you were stationed there with the Coast Guard or worked there as
an employee prior to 1954; if you were interned there as a German,
Italian or Japanese "enemy alien" during wartime, Janet Levine wants
to hear from you.
Ms. Levine is the oral historian with the Ellis Island Immigration
Museum, part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. She is coming
to Pittsburgh on March 26 to conduct taped interviews with residents
who have any of the above associations with the processing center
through which millions of newcomers passed from 1892 to 1954.
Her visit here could last up to a week, depending on how many
interviews materialize. Those interested in telling their stories
may call Ms. Levine’s New York office, 1-212-363-3206, ext. 157,
and leave a message for her to return.
"We’re seeking people with firsthand experience of passing through
Ellis Island, even if they don’t remember that part of their
immigration," Ms. Levine said.
"The intent is to gather life stories. Ellis Island is the criterion
we use, but it isn’t the primary emphasis. I have interviewed people
who were born on the ship or shortly thereafter. The focus is growing
up in the immigrant community."
Ms. Levine will select interview subjects based on age at arrival,
overall experience and gaps in the current collection. Interviews
last an hour, and most are conducted in the subject’s residence. The
only requirement is a quiet spot near an electrical outlet.
"I do it like a conversation," she said. "We go through life before
they came, the decision to come, the departure, the ship voyage,
coming into New York harbor and Ellis Island, where they went from
there, first impressions and a thumbnail sketch of their lives here.
Whatever they remember is fine and what they don’t remember doesn’t
matter."
Eventually, the tapes and transcriptions will go into the museum’s 20
public computers, available to everyone from international researchers
to children on a school field trip. Subjects get an audio tape of
the interview, she said, adding: "Families are very happy to have it."
In particular, Ms. Levine is looking to fill gaps in the museum’s
collection.
"We would love to find someone from Bulgaria," she said. "We don’t
have one person from there.
"Also, most of the Italians and Eastern Europeans we have are Jewish
people who were fleeing persecution. We have a lot of those from
Poland," she said, but very few non-Jewish Poles.
"We have Armenians from Turkey, but not many Turks.
"We also have fewer people from France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal,
Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. We’d like to have more from
Croatia, more Czechs and Austrians — although we do have three of
the von Trapps [of ‘Sound of Music’ fame]. We can also use people
from the Caribbean and Africa."
The collection has a sprinkling of interviews with Chinese and
Japanese, she said, although most of those newcomers arrived via the
West Coast.
The Pittsburgh visit — a first for the museum’s oral history project
— is one of an ongoing series of expeditions across the country in
search of Ellis Island stories.
Ms. Levine already has several interviews lined up with people who
visited the museum and filled out a questionnaire. They include
brothers who came with their mother from Italy in 1937 to avoid the
Italian army; a former member of the Coast Guard who was stationed
there in 1941; a German who fled with his parents to avoid the Nazis;
and a Croatian woman who arrived in 1920.
Ellis Island was the first federal processing station for immigrants.
It opened in 1892, and was reincarnated as an immigration museum
in 1990.
Prior to its original opening, newcomers who arrived at various
ports were processed by the states. But 75 percent still came through
New York.
The period from 1880 to 1924 became what Ms. Levine called "the
largest migration of people in human history."
At first, she said, those who came into New York harbor disembarked
at Castle Garden, a fort in Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan. But
their numbers grew so large that the U.S. government set up the intake
apparatus at Ellis Island to exercise more control.
Those who arrived in first- or second-class passage were assumed
to have means of support; they continued to enter via Castle Garden
after a cursory medical exam on the ship. Ellis Island was for the
poorer masses who arrived in third class or steerage.
"The point was to weed out people who might become a public charge,"
said Ms. Levine.
The poorer passengers had to undergo a more rigorous physical exam.
Their papers had to be in order, and they had to have $25. Women and
children had to be picked up by a man. Those without money or a man
to retrieve them had to have a sponsor.
Such stories are among many already archived in the museum’s
collection. The first taped interview was done at the Statue of Liberty
by oral historian Margo Nash in 1971. She taped 200 interviews with
people who had made a life for themselves in the New World. Often
they talked about how different the statue looked from when they
first saw it.
Now, Ms. Levine said, the museum has 2,000 archived interviews,
plus another series conducted around the country in the mid-1980s in
preparation for the museum’s opening. Excerpts are used in exhibits
where visitors can listen in by phone.
If family members did their own audio taped interviews that are of
good quality, the museum will accept them as donation, she said. The
museum library also has donated diaries that were kept by immigrants,
and a permanent exhibit of things newcomers brought with them from
the old country.
In addition, the museum houses the American Family History Center,
which affords computerized access to passenger manifests from all
the ships that came into New York harbor from 1892 to 1924, when more
stringent quota laws came into effect.
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
March 9 2007
TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY REGRETS SWISS COURT RULING ON PARTY LEADER
Ankara/Lausanne, 9 March: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
expressed regret over Swiss court’s decision about Dogu Perincek,
leader of Turkish Labour Party, who was tried in Lausanne and found
guilty of breaching Swiss laws by denying so-called Armenian
genocide.
In a written statement on Friday [9 March], the ministry said despite
the groundless, baseless and controversial subject of trial, court’s
decision led several questions.
"Acceptance of this decision by Turkish people is impossible," the
ministry said.
The ministry noted that it abstained from making any statements on
behalf of Turkey in order not to intervene in justice, stating that
it only expressed its belief on a neutral and fair decision by the
Swiss court. However, the ministry said, biased broadcast on Swiss TV
channels, reflection of the issue in the press for propaganda
advantages of prosecuting party and announcements as "denier" for
Perincek before court’s verdict, giving opportunity for every kind of
efforts to interfere in court’s decision caused deep sorrow.
"In the next phases of legal process related to the trial, we hope
that this injustice will be fixed by uncommitted and independent
judges and courts which we believe to exist in Switzerland," the
ministry said.
Earlier today, a Swiss court fined Perincek to 9,000 francs for
violating the Swiss law on "denying" so-called Armenian genocide but
this sentence was delayed for two years.
Dogu Perincek was detained in Switzerland on 24 July 2005 for saying
"Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie" in a press conference. He
was released after being interrogated for more than three hours.
Harshly reacting to the verdict, Perincek said, "This decision is the
concrete evidence of the grudge that Swiss judge holds against Turkey
and Turkish nation."
Perincek qualified the decision as "biased" and added, "I will appeal
the verdict. If I cannot get any result from the appeals court, I
will apply to the European Court of Human Rights."
Perincek has filed to appeal.
Perincek’s Swiss lawyer, Prof Moreillon, submitted Perincek’s
petition to Lausanne Court of Appeals this evening.
Moreillon also denounced judge Pierre Henri Winzap for using
expressions about Perincek as "arrogant, provocateur, racist,
nationalist" in the text of verdict.
Perincek will not wait for the decision of appeal court and he will
return to Turkey tomorrow.
Turkey seeking ways to create its own Diaspora
ArmRadio.am
10.03.2007 14:52
Weary of Armenian genocide resolutions adopted by a number of
parliaments abroad, Turkey has been seeking ways to create its own
Diaspora together with northern Cyprus and Azerbaijan.
More than 5 million Turkish citizens live in 118 countries in the
world but they do not have any political influence. In the Azerbaijani
capital of Baku, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said on
Friday he expected Turkish and Azeri citizens living in the United
States, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and other parts of the
world to benefit from each other’s powers, reports the Turkish Daily
News.
`All of us from politicians, academics, artists, capital owners, media
groups to all businessmen bear important responsibilities. We’ll stand
shoulder to shoulder, act in solidarity and carry the entire Turkic
world to a bright future,’ he was quoted as saying at the opening of
the First Forum of the World Azeri and Turkish Diaspora Organizations.
Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat also participated in the
forum.
Jury returns Dogu Perincek guilty of denying the Armenian Genocide
ArmRadio.am
09.03.2007 15:31
In the Swiss city of Lausanne the jury announced the verdict on fining
the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party Dogu Perincek for denying the
Armenian Genocide. The International Herald Tribute informs that Dogu
Perincek was returned guilty of violating the Swiss law on racism,
which was formerly applied against Holocaust deniers. The source notes
that at the court hearing the Turkish politician repeated his words
uttered during a demonstration in Lausanne in 2005, according to which
`the massacre of Armenians at the turn of the previous century was not
genocide.’